The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has rescinded a final rule it issued last August on procedures for PBGC guidance documents.
The PBGC took this action in accordance with President Biden’s Executive Order on Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation issued on Jan. 20, 2021.
The PBGC had issued the rule on Aug. 26, 2020 in accordance with President Trump’s Oct. 9, 2019 Executive Order, “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents. That rule had set forth the PBGC procedures for issuing PBGC guidance documents and added a new 29 CFR part 4908 to the Code of Federal Regulations implementing the requirements of the 2019 executive order, which required agencies to set forth processes and procedures for issuing guidance documents.
The PBGC says that revisions to its policies and requirements surrounding guidance “are purely internal matters of agency management, as well as the agency’s organization, procedure, and practice” and that, accordingly, it is not required to engage seek comments on this withdrawal of the final rule. In addition, it takes effect immediately because it imposes no obligations on parties outside the federal government such as employers or other private parties.
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